Repetitively praying the same few words or phrases is an ancient spiritual practice. (A few examples off the top of my head: some Japanese Buddhists daily chant the title of the Lotus Sutra, Namu myoho renge kyo; the Jesus prayer–Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Have mercy on me, a sinner—has its origins in Egyptian monasticism and is a regular practice in the Eastern Orthodox tradition; the Hare Krishna mantra in Hinduism was first written down over 2,500 years ago; the ecumenical Taize community has built their communal prayer life and their worldwide youth ministry around their contemporary chants (often using ancient texts).
So Andrae Crouch is not only in good company, he’s also deeply rooted in both Christian and global religious practice with “Bless His Holy Name”, a gorgeous and uplifting gospel/baroque (listen to that trumpet in the background) hymn of praise, inspired by the opening line of Psalm 103.
Philly Joe Jones (not to be confused with Papa Jo Jones) was Miles Davis’ favorite drummer, which is about as good a bebop credential as there is. (Jones drummed in Davis’ First Great Quintet.)
Here he is in 1959 leading his own band, playing “Battery* Blues” and doing things with his seven piece kit that other drummers are still trying to learn.
Enjoy.
*Almost certainly the downtown Manhattan neighborhood, not the power source that converts chemical energy into electricity.
Songs are turned into advertising jingles to sell stuff so commonly it can be easy to forget that sometimes inspiration goes the other way.
Alka-Seltzer’s 1972 “I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing” television commercial was a cultural phenomenon—winning a Clio (the ad industry’s Oscars), making Newsweek magazine’s list of the top 10 quotes of the decade, going viral before memes existed, and entering everyday conversation for tens of millions of Americans.
Chicago-based producer/arranger Willie Henderson and DJ E. Rodney Jones saw the ad, heard a chorus for a funky, funny, proto-rap, soul food block party story-song, and went into the studio to make it happen.
The rest is this little bit of musical history.
“Vaseline Machine Gun” is reportedly the first song virtuoso Leo Kottke wrote for 12 string slide guitar, and in this aged early ’70s TV video clip, you can see—and hear—all the delight and boldness of a young artist growing into the full power of his talents.
So, we initially cued up one-hit wonder Bobby Hebb’s 1966 hit (#2 on the Billboard Pop chart), “Sunny” because yesterday was the first truly sunny day of spring here at MassCommons World Headquarters, the kind of day that starts off a bit cool then rises high into the 70s so that by midday you have people dressed in crop tops and shorts walking past people in 3/4 winter coats. Basically, it’s the first day of spring.
But with all the furor created over who and what defines “country” music (and who gets to sing/write/play/listen to it) provoked by Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, it’s also an opportunity to highlight the boundary-breaking nature of music.
You can’t get more “country” in the music industry sense of the word than Nashville, and that’s where Bobby Hebb was born and first gained attention as half of a child song-and-dance act with his older brother. In short order Hebb secured gigs working for Roy Acuff (country), Johnny Bragg and The Prisonaires (rhythm and blues), Bo Diddley (rock and roll), and the US Navy (jazz), before replacing Mickey Baker in Mickey & Sylvia, thus dueting with Sylvia Robinson who later founded Sugar Hill Records (hip hop).
All those influences and experiences came together in the aftermath of the back-to-back killings of President John F. Kennedy and Hebb’s brother Harold in November 1963 with the writing of “Sunny” as part of Hebb’s determination “just to think of happier times – basically looking for a brighter day – because times were at a low tide.“
So, don’t let those clouds moving in and the rainstorm projected for this afternoon get you too far down.
P. S. Also check out this fantastic live duet version with Hebb on guitar and the legendary Ron Carter on bass.
“Proud Mary” has been recorded hundreds of times by everyone from Clara Ward to The Leningrad Cowboys and it’s still the unanimous consensus of the Music Department here at MassCommons World Headquarters that Creedence Clearwater Revival’s original recording remains the second best version ever.
(Hey, with what Ike & Tina Turner did to that song, there’s no shame in finishing second.)
If “Okey Dokey” sounds like it was arranged in somebody’s spare time based on which studio musicians were available for some extra work between sessions, that’s because it was…along with pretty much everything released by The Incredible Bongo Band in the early 1970s.
It doesn’t mean they didn’t know what they were doing.
“Woah, you know that I so glad somehow/That I got salvation right now.“
Right from the opening lines of “Singin’ In My Soul”, The Swan Silvertones let you know they’re not about any “pie in the sky when you die by and by” religion. They’re singing about salvation “right now“. Despite working in the coal mines. Despite Jim Crow. Despite any hardships life may bring.
And they’ve got what you might call “salvation strategies” to impart to their audience, music being first among them:
“You know I sing, yes I do, from morning till night,
Because it makes my burdens get a little bit light….”
That’s a useful 3 minutes…even before you get to their tight harmonies and Claude Jeter’s spine-tinglingly gorgeous falsetto.
Welcome to May 4th, the most prominent of several days throughout the year (e.g., 5/8, 7/4, 7/8, 10/8, 11/4) set aside by our glorious ancestors to celebrate music in odd time signatures.
Here at this little blog we’re observing the holiday with “Wahoo (aka Stanley’s Blues)”, a rhythm heavy hard bop delight recorded for Blue Note Records in 1964…but not released until 1980, presumably because Blue Note executives decided it wasn’t among the 20+ best recording sessions they’d produced that year.
Here’s the thing about Blue Note Records in the late 1950s and early 60s: 1) they were probably right, and, 2) that gives you some idea of how absolutely superb Blue Note and its artists were.
Enjoy.
There are folks from the DC area—some are in this video, many are not—who speak in an entirely new tone of voice (by turns ecstatic, reverential, and awed) when you bring up the Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown. Sure, the music he and The Soul Searchers made was funky, but the live shows they put on were something else—more communal rites of celebration than concerts.
You get a feel for that in this live performance from near the end of his career of “Wind Me Up Chuck”. At times it’s not clear who’s leading the song: the singer, the band, or the audience. In truth, at different times all of them are.
And they’re just getting started. This party will be going for hours.
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